Ten-try Sharks end strongly

The Sharks ended their Super Rugby campaign on a winning note with a 58-13 victory over an under-strength Kings outfit.

The Sharks ended their Super Rugby campaign on a winning note with a 58-13 victory over an under-strength Kings outfit.

Neither side had anything to play for heading into the match and with the Kings having made 12 changes, the Sharks were always expected to have the lion's share of the running and they did just that, registering 29 unanswered points in the second half.

The home side made an early statement of their willingness to run the ball, with Jean Deysel making two bulldozing runs inside the opening moments.

However, it was the Kings who opened the scoring against the run of play in the second minute when George Whitehead dived over after Waylon Murray had popped up to execute an intercept inside the Sharks 22.

The Sharks hit back moments later, with Marcell Coetzee showing great strength to force his way over after breaking off the back of a runaway maul that had begun outside of the Kings 22.

Bismarck du Plessis got the host's second in similar fashion, with the maul proving to be a force nearly impossible to stop.

Indeed, once Odwa Ndungane had picked up the Sharks' third after diving on his own grubber, the Kings proved that they too could make good use of the maul, with Mpho Mbiyozo breaking loose from a maul to keep the Kings in the contest at 19-13.

It was then that the Sharks started to make their mark.

The Kings were dealt a firm blow when referee Stuart Berry awarded the Sharks a penalty try when flanker Devin Oosthuizen brought down yet another maul just before the line. Oosthuizen was shown a yellow card for his troubles.

The Sharks went into the break with a 26-13 lead and they extended this further after the break through tries from Riaan Viljoen, Tendai Mtawarira and Louis Ludik.

With both coaches emptying their replacement benches, the game stuttered in the final quarter, with neither side able to make full use of the chances that came their way.

As the teams tired it was the Sharks who showed the better stamina though, with skipper Keegan Daniel bursting off the back of a scrum to claim a 72-minute try and debutante Fred Zeliinga bringing up the Sharks' half-century soon after. Meyer Bosman rounded out the scoring with a try after the hooter.